On 8 August, Bavaria-based group Pfleiderer, a system provider for engineered wood products, melamine faced chipboards and laminate flooring, announced it is to cut 200 out of 3,500 jobs in Germany till the end of the year 2006. The company, which reports 2006 so far to be the most successful year in its business history, says it intends to save costs at the German locations of the parent company Pfleiderer to expand its subsidiaries' activities on eastern European and North American markets. In 2005, Pfleiderer bought laminate floor manufacturer Kunz, which is strong on the North American market. No precise information was given that job cuts in Germany are directly linked to offshoring activities. However, Pfleiderer has already increased its manufacturing capacities in Canada. A chip board manufacturing plant in Novgorod (Russia) is starting operations in 2006 and in 2007 a new manufacturing plant will be opened in Poland.